Poppy's Dance
by MyImmortal329
Summary: Before his youngest daughter's wedding, Sully remembers all of the good times he's spent with her, and he tries to let go and look forward to the future.


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. The rights to those characters and to the show belong to the creators of the show, to CBS, The Sullivan Company and to A&E.

**Poppy's Dance **

**By, Ashley J.**

**Written July 11-15, 2005**

Michaela woke alone in the wee hours of the morning. She was warm and needed a glass of water. She hadn't been sleeping well, but she had obviously been in a sleep deep enough to keep her from waking when Sully got out of bed. She smiled, knowing he couldn't sleep either, and it wasn't for a bad reason in particular.

She pulled on her slippers and left the master bedroom. She could hear giggling in one room down the hall. Before she started for the landing, she opened the bedroom door to see two little blondes jumping up and down on their beds. Rose and Rebecca Cooper froze in the their places.

"What would your papa say about you jumping on the bed?" Michaela reprimanded them gently.

"Papa's not here, Grandma," Rebecca reminded her. Rebecca and Rose were the very smart and beautiful eight-year-old twin daughters of Brian and Sara Cooper.

"Tomorrow's a big day, girls. It's close to two in the morning, and we must be awake at dawn. Crawl under your covers now." Michaela moved to tuck the girls into their beds. She moved down the hall to check on the rest of her grandchildren. Seven-year-old Adam Cook rested in one bed as his fifteen-year-old brother Michael slept on the other side of the room. In another bed, Matthew's five-year-old daughter Mary and his ten-year-old Laura lay side by side, sleeping peacefully.

Michaela smiled and left the room, sighing happily to herself. She had six wonderful grandchildren, and three of her five children were happily married. She felt that her family had been blessed, and blessed it had been.

"Ma?" came a voice from down the hall. Twelve-year-old John came from his room.

"Johnny, what are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep. Guess I'm too nervous," he spoke up. "You're up too. Is Pa?"

"Come along," Michaela said, reaching for her son's hand. "We'll go have some warm milk downstairs." The two descended the stairs to see Sully standing over the stove, warming milk in a kettle. "I see you beat us to it." Sully looked up at his wife and son and smiled.

"We couldn't sleep either, Pa." Johnny sat down in a chair, and Michaela sat down soon after. Sully poured three cups of milk, and the three sat in silence before Sully spoke up.

"Can't sleep 'cause of tomorrow?" he asked.

"I can't believe she's getting married, Sully. Our baby girl." Johnny took a sip of milk.

"Well, I'll be glad to have my room back. Havin' all these nieces and nephews 'round here is getting kinda crazy." Sully chuckled. "Alright, I'll miss Katie too, but she's only movin' to Denver. 'Sides, she'll be a lady doc just like you, Ma. Ya don't need to worry 'bout her." Michaela smiled a little.

"Johnny, I know she'll be close, but it's the fact that she's getting married." Michaela shook her head. "Colleen and Andrew married and moved to Boston. Matthew married Cassandra and moved to St. Louis. Brian and Sarah are in Boston as well."

"But they all come back every holiday they can make it. Katie'll come back too." Michaela and Sully glanced at one another with knowing smiles.

"Why don't ya go up and try to get some rest?" Sully asked. "We're getting up early in the mornin' to meet Tom's family at the train station." Tom Reynolds was the man Katie was marrying. No longer would she be Katherine Elizabeth Sully, the name given to her on the proudest day of her papa's life. She would be Katherine Elizabeth Reynolds, and Sully was still wary of it. He trusted her betrothed, but he knew that his little girl was being taken away to a new life, a life where she would only see her family on occasion.

"Okay," Johnny replied with a shrug. He started up the stairs, and Michaela looked at Sully. She placed her hand in his across the table.

"Can you believe it, Sully? Tomorrow, our little Katie will be a married woman." Sully took an apprehensive breath and shook his head.

"I can't believe it," Sully said honestly. "I mean, she's already graduated and becomin' a doctor just like her ma." Michaela sighed heavily. It hadn't ever occurred to her that Katie would want to become a doctor, but from the time she was young, she liked helping her mother in the clinic, and by the time she was about thirteen, she was assisting in surgeries and helping to deliver babies. Katie was a very headstrong girl, which made her like her mother, and Michaela was amazed at how alike they were.

"All of her life, I've told her it's okay for her to be whatever she wants to be. Sully, do you realize how talented our daughter is?"

"Every day," he replied with a nod. "But from the start, she loved helpin' people just like you do." Michaela smiled and leaned across the table to kiss him. "I'm proud of all my girls." Michaela chuckled against her husband's lips. "Go on up to bed. I'll be up in a little while." Michaela nodded, finished her milk and went up to try to get some more sleep.

Sully moved and walked over to the fireplace. On top of the mantle sat dozens of framed pictures that they had collected over the years. There was a photo of Sully and Michaela's wedding, a photo from Katie's christening, a photo from Colleen and Andrew's wedding. After that came pictures of the grandchildren and of Johnny. He was a beautiful boy, and he and Katie had gotten along so well, much like Colleen and Brian had when they were young. He smiled when he saw a picture of himself and Katie on a fishing trip. Katie had begged and begged to go. It had been a trip that Sully and Johnny had been planning for months, but Johnny fell ill and didn't want his father to postpone the trip or go alone. Finally, Katie convinced her father to take her along, though it didn't take as much urging as she thought. He had wanted her to go, but he loved teasing her for fun. Katie had been Poppy's little girl since the day she was born. Now she was getting married, and he knew grandchildren would most likely follow shortly. It seemed surreal that Miss Katie was about to be a Mrs.

It seemed like just yesterday he was holding her for the first time and smiling down at that bright-eyed newborn. Eighteen years had come and gone, and it seemed like so much less than that. Sully knew Michaela was having a hard time dealing with the fact that their baby girl was going away, but as the father of the bride, he felt a little more emotional than usual. He had been nervous enough when he had found out she was on the way, and he had dove into parenthood when he had to deliver young Katie in the middle of nowhere. She had had an exciting life from the beginning, and she had already seen more of the country than most people her age. There had been so many happy memories in their time together, and Sully began to think over all of them.

* * *

"Come on, Michaela! You can do this!" Michaela bore down hard, her back pressing painfully into the large oak. That pain wasn't anything compared to what she was feeling elsewhere. With one final cry and a big push, Michaela delivered a healthy seven-pound baby girl into the world. Sully couldn't believe he was holding his daughter in his hands, feeling her squirm around and gasp for breath. He watched as her lips opened and she let out a powerful cry. Michaela was panting, fighting to find her own breath as she rested back against the large oak tree.

Sully snipped the cord and wrapped the baby in a little white blanket. He stared at her in amazement and checked between her legs one more time to make sure he didn't tell his wife they had a daughter and it was actually a boy. He blinked away the tears and found that he was right, and he lifted her into the air.

"It's a girl," he whispered, sniffling and letting the tears flow. The little one began to holler as loud as she could, and Sully handed her to her mother. "Look at her, Michaela. Our girl." He kissed the side of his wife's head, and Michaela began to sob for job. They held one another and stared down at their baby. The child's hands were reaching out, and Sully moved to stroke her hand with his finger. She latched onto it, and from then on, she was her daddy's girl.

"Oh, Sully," Michaela cried, holding her baby in her arms for the first time. Katie let out an enormous wail, and Michaela caressed her soft cheek. "Look at you, my angel. My little girl." She looked up into Sully's eyes. "We have a little girl, Sully!" The tears had started to flow from Sully's eyes, and he rested his chin on his wife's shoulder. Her head tilted to lean against his, and they stared down at the miracle they had created together.

* * *

"Poppy! Poppy!" the three-year-old cried as she rushed down the hill with daisies piled up in her arms. "I picked these for Mama!" Sully had been planning a romantic dinner for himself and his wife, and young Katie was going to spend the night in town with Brian at Grace and Robert E.'s. Sully looked down at his little girl, noticing how her little cheeks were flushed red from running so much.

"Thank you, sweet girl," Sully said, picking his daughter up and taking the daisies from her. After he carried her inside, he placed the flowers in a vase and twirled Katie around. She giggled happily.

"Poppy? Are you and Mama gonna dance?"

"Sure we are," Sully replied.

"Will you dance with me someday, Poppy?" Sully smiled at his sweet girl. Her big hazel eyes were too sweet to say no to.

"I'll dance with you right now, Kates," he replied with a smile. Katie laughed as he twirled her around the room.

"No, Poppy! Dance like you dance with mommy!" Sully smiled and looked into his angel's face.

"I'm afraid you're too short for that, kiddo."

"I'll stand on your feet! Please?" Sully placed his daughter down onto the floor, and she reached up for his hands. Her little feet stood on his, and he carried her around with ease.

* * *

"Can you believe it?" Michaela asked as Sully smoothed back her hair from her damp forehead. He pulled his arm around her and stared down at their newborn son who lay at his mother's breast.

"He's beautiful," Sully whispered.

"Of course he is. He looks just like his papa." Sully chuckled.

"I wonder what Katie's gonna think of him?" he asked. Michaela grinned nervously. Katie had wished so hard to have a baby sister to play with, so they hoped she wasn't too disappointed when she found out she had a brother instead. The baby pulled from his mother's breast, and Michaela handed him over to his father. Sully lightly ran his fingers across the top of the boy's head, feeling the soft brown hair.

"You feelin' alright?" Sully asked his wife.

"Yes. I'm just a bit tired."

"Want me to take him to meet his sister?" She's downstairs with Brian.

"Sure. Thank you, sweetheart," Michaela whispered.

"We'll be right back." Sully gave his wife a soft kiss before starting down the stairs to introduce the child he and Michaela had delivered into this world. Unfortunately, Dr. Bernard hadn't been able to make it, and Dr. Cassidy had been detained at the saloon, so Sully had delivered his son, who had come very quickly into the world. It was time to let the folks of Colorado Springs know that there was a new citizen.

"Poppy!" Katie exclaimed, jumping off of Brian's lap when the door opened downstairs. The crowd outside moved closer to get a peek of the child swaddled in the soft white blanket.

"Everybody, I'd like ya'll to meet Jonathon Alexander Sully," Sully said with a smile. The ladies all cooed over the baby, and Katie looked up with confusion. "Kates?"

"Any chance that's a girl's name? Or, did Mama have twins, and the other's a girl?" Sully smiled a little and knelt down on the porch with Johnny in his arms.

"Katie, I hope ya won't mind havin' a little brother," Sully said with a smile. "See, 'fore you came along, Brian wanted a little brother, but he got a sister instead." Sully pulled the blanket away from Johnny's face. "Look at 'im, sweet girl." Katie put her finger in the side of her mouth and peered down at her baby brother.

"He is kinda cute," she said with a grin. Sully chuckled. "Can I call 'im Johnny?"

"You can call him whatever you like, Kates. You're his big sister." Katie liked the sound of that!

"Well, I guess havin' a little brother won't be so bad. He just better keep away from Annie!" Katie clutched the doll close to her and bent down to kiss her little brother's forehead. The folks in the crowd all misted up a little at the scene of the father, daughter and newborn baby boy.

* * *

"Ma! Poppy!" an excited six-year-old exclaimed as she burst into their bedroom without knocking, like she did on every other occasion. Luckily, her mother and father had already finished their activities of that morning, the sheets had been smoothed back, and every article of clothing was placed on its proper body part. "First day of school!"

"That's right, sweetheart," Michaela said happily, scooping her little girl up into her arms. Katie squealed with excitement.

"Mama, will you do my hair?"

"Of course. Come sit over here." She placed Katie down, and the little girl climbed up to sit on the comfortable bench in front of her mother's mirror. Sully smiled as he watched his wife and daughter, and he looked down in the crib that held his young son. Baby Johnny was a good three months old, and Sully had the feeling that he would be the last child for himself and Michaela. They had had a difficult time conceiving, and after four long years, success! Sully felt guilty wishing that the children would stay as young as they were forever. He witnessed Katie growing up more and more each day, and he couldn't believe that six years ago, that smart, beautiful little girl had been a helpless infant. "Would you like me to walk you to school today, or would you like your Papa to?" Katie considered her options, and she looked over at Sully.

"Mama, you can both take me," she said with a proud nod. "I want all the kids to know that I've got the best parents in the whole world." Michaela smiled and began braiding her daughter's soft blonde hair. "I want them to know that I'm gonna be just like you, Ma."

"Sweetheart, you don't have to grow up to be just like me."  
"But, I want to. I wanna help people like you do, and most folks really like you." She looked at Sully through the reflection of the mirror. "But, I wanna be like Pa too. I wanna go on adventures out in the woods and help keep Colorado as pretty as it is right now." Michaela and Sully glanced at each other knowingly. Their little girl was turning into a very wise, caring young lady, and it was only a matter of time before she was a grown woman making decisions for herself that would hopefully help others.

* * *

As the years wore on, Katie became big enough to dance with her father without standing on his feet, but she stood on them anyway, and he carried her about the house. Michaela would watch them some evenings, especially during her pregnancy with Johnny, and she would reminisce about teaching Sully how to dance and how difficult it had been.

By the time Katie was thirteen she was quite independent. She was a bright student in school, and she was looking more and more like her mother everyday. She was still the apple of her father's eye, and boys were beginning to notice her, which her parents were very nervous about. Sully, however, was surprised by Michaela's behavior. She was not as overprotective as she had been when Colleen had started strolling and courting. Katie was their baby girl, so Sully expected Michaela to be as overprotective as ever.

"Where's Katie?" Sully asked as he walked into the house at five in the evening. Katie still wasn't home from school. Michaela sighed and put her hand on her husband's arm. She smiled at him, knowing how he was going to react.

"She's on a stroll with George Fisher, remember?" Michaela asked. Sully sighed with defeat. He was very overprotective of his youngest daughter, and Katie hated the fact that she wasn't allowed to do some things even though three of her brothers and sisters were already married. She was the oldest child living in the house, and she was still restricted to curfews.

"Ya told her she had to be home by six, didn't ya?"  
"Yes, sweetheart," Michaela said with a chuckle.

"How come ya ain't nervous?"

"You know George. He's a sweet boy."  
"But, he's with our Kates." Michaela chuckled, moving to the stove to stir a pot of gravy.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Maybe we ought to ground her 'til she's twenty five." Michaela laughed a little.

"Sweetheart, I learned from a good friend a long time ago that if we hold the reins too tightly, she'll just struggle and break free. We can't lock her up forever. She's growing up." She moved to give him a quick peck on the cheek, and as she pulled away, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her lovingly upon the lips, drawing out their kiss as long as he could before he needed a breath. The gravy began to bubble, and Michaela smiled, giving her husband another quick kiss. She moved to continue with her cooking, which had improved a lot over the years!

"You sure have changed. I remember when Colleen was her age, and the boys started flockin' around." Michaela smiled.

"And she became angry with me for not trusting her. Katie has a good head on her shoulders. She'll be fine. Besides, didn't you teach her how to throw a tomahawk?" Michaela laughed at her small joke. It was true. Sully had taught his daughter how to throw that tomahawk. She had been an equal balance of a tomboy and a little lady as a small child, so she could climb trees with the best of the boys and catch a bigger fish that her younger brother.

"You're sayin' she can protect herself?"

"I'm saying that she's a young lady, and she will expect to be treated as one." Michaela kissed her husband softly. At that moment, Katie came walking through the door and removed her bonnet. She smiled at her parents when she found them both staring at her.

"What is it?"

"You're home early," Michaela remarked.

"Did that Fisher boy try somethin'?" he asked suspiciously. Katie rolled her eyes and watched her mother stifle a giggle.

"Pa, you worry too much." At that moment, Sully wondered when Katie had gone from calling him Poppy to calling him Pa.

* * *

The first time Katie went to a Sweetheart's Dance had been rough on both of her parents. Michaela had been fussing over her fourteen-year-old daughter's dress, making sure it was just right. Sully couldn't help but imagine that Michaela was thinking of her own wedding and how perfect her dress had been, thanks to her family and Dorothy.

"Pa?" Katie asked as she helped her mother with the ribbons that adorned her dress. Sully kept his eye on Johnny, who had sticky fingers from candy at Loren's store and was known to get into trouble. Michaela would have a fit if he mucked up Katie's dress!

"Hmm?"

"What if I forget how to dance?" she asked. One thing about Katie was that she always grew self-conscious before anything special where she would have to interact with the boys who called upon her.

"What are ya talkin' about? Your ma taught ya, and ya always dance with me."

"I know, Pa, but I'm nervous." Sully took his sweet girl's hand in his.

"I'm sure George ain't gonna care how ya dance. He's only gonna notice how pretty you are." Katie smiled knowingly.

"Pa, I'm not going to the dance with George."

"What?"

"George was last year, sweetheart," Michaela said with a grin. "She's going with Billy . . ."

"Billy Adams," Katie reminded her. "He's the sweetest boy." She sighed, and Sully felt nervous again.

"You sure ya don't wanna stay home with your brother? I could tell Horace he don't have to watch him, and . . ." Katie gave her father a knowing look. Sully couldn't believe how calm Michaela was being about all of this, but then again, she had been preparing children for dances long before she married him. She had more experience, and Katie had proven herself to be very trustworthy and honest. There was no reason not to trust her, but Sully sure had reason not to trust those fourteen-year-old boys. After all, they were fourteen year old boys, and he had been one of those before too!

"Pa, you better get upstairs and get your suit on, or Ma's not gonna have somebody to dance with!" Katie pointed to the clock, and Michaela realized that she still had a few touch ups to do to her hair. "Here Ma, let me finish this. Go on!" Michaela and Sully looked at her for a moment. Their sweet baby girl was growing up more and more each day. Finally, Michaela tugged on Sully's hand and they hurried to prepare for the dance as Katie finished her very first Sweetheart's Dance dress.

* * *

Sully woke at around midnight to hear his wife sobbing silently. He rolled over in bed, but she wasn't there. It was then that he found her sitting on the floor of their bedroom with a drawer pulled out of their bureau. She was holding the white blanket that Elizabeth Quinn had made for Katie seventeen years ago.

"Michaela?" he asked quietly. She looked up and blushed wildly through the firelight. "What's the matter?" He moved from the bed to sit across from her on the floor. He lifted his hand to her cheek and brushed away her tears.

"She's going away tomorrow, Sully. She's going off to college!" Sully smiled knowingly.

"She's growin' up, and goin' to college is part of growin' up, Michaela."  
"I know," she whispered. "I just don't know how I'm going to cope with my little girl going away. I'm going to miss her so much."

"She's awful special, Michaela. She's made us proud everyday of her life, and I'm sure she's gonna keep on doin' that."

"I know. I know this is silly. I've gone through this three times before. First with Colleen, then with Matthew when he decided to go to law school, and then I went through it with Brian. But I don't feel that Katie's ready for this."

"She's sixteen, Michaela. She's ready." Michaela looked him in the eye.

"How are you be so calm, Sully? You're the one who's been the overprotective one for the past ten years." Sully smiled.

"I ain't ready to let her go either, but it's somethin' we've gotta do, ya know?" He pulled his wife into a hug and kissed her cheek softly. He moved to lean against the bureau, and she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for the longest time, and it wasn't long before Michaela was sleeping soundly. Sully picked her up and carried her to bed. After he'd tucked her in, he left the bedroom and moved toward Katie's room. He noticed a glow coming from under her door, and he silently opened the door. He found her lying on her bed, still in her dress from the afternoon. She had a book splayed out across her chest, and the oil lamp was burning low as she slept. He smiled a bit and shook his head. His Katie always had her nose in a book, just like her ma.

He picked up the book, something about the anatomy of the human body, and he sat it aside. He pulled a quilt up to keep her warm and blew out the flame in the oil lamp.

"Goodnight," he whispered before he left the room. "Sweet dreams." He closed the door and retired back to his and Michaela's bedroom to greet a sleepless night of worrying about his daughter's departure for college in the morning.

* * *

Michaela paced the room of the clinic frantically as children ran up and down the halls trying to figure out whose clothes belonged to whom. Everyone had started for the church except for the children, Michaela, Colleen and Katie. Katie was just pinning her veil in when she noticed Michaela trying her best to fasten the pearl necklace that she'd worn to her own wedding. Marjorie had left those to her after she died, and Michaela felt that this was the perfect opportunity to wear them again.

"Ma?" Katie asked as Colleen moved around their mother to help her with the clasp. "Ma, you're really making me nervous!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Michaela breathed. "I'm just having trouble grasping that my baby girl is getting married." Colleen smiled knowingly.

"Don't worry, Katie. She was like this before my wedding day. Well, maybe not quite as bad. Ma? You need to breathe!" Michaela realized she had been holding her breath. She took a deep breath as Katie turned around with everything in place. Michaela's eyes began to sparkle with tears. She smiled at the way her daughter's golden blonde locks cascaded down her back and over her shoulders.

"How do I look, Mama?" Michaela felt as if Katie was asking her this for the first time as a small child.

"Oh, you look beautiful sweetheart." Michaela dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief.

"Ma? I can't get this clasp," Colleen said, her nervous fingers fumbling with the clasp to the pearl necklace. Michaela sighed and took the pearls into her own hands again. Then she glanced at Katie.

"Something wrong, Ma?" Katie asked, her big, beautiful eyes sparkling with happiness on the most incredible day of her life.

"Something's missing." Katie looked down at her dress, and Michaela glanced at the pearls in her hands. "Katie?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you wear these?"

"Your pearls from Aunt Marjorie!" Katie's jaw gaped open a bit. "You really want me to wear them?" Michaela nodded.

"Please?" Katie bit her bottom lip and nodded with excitement. Michaela was finally able to steady her hands, and she fixed them around her daughter's neck. "Perfect." A knock came to the door, and Brian's wife Sara stuck her head through the crack in the door.

"Everyone's gathered at the church."

"Thank you, Sarah. We'll be along in a moment," Michaela called out. "Will you take the rest of the children?" Sara nodded and closed the door. Michaela turned nervously to her daughter. "Sweetheart, is there anything we need to discuss about . . ." Katie smiled and blushed a little.

"Ma, you've given me this talk six times in the last week, and Colleen talked to me last night." Colleen took one of Katie's hands while Michaela took the other, and the three stood in a circle, holding hands and realizing that this was the last wedding a Sully daughter would be wearing this dress until Johnny was grown and had daughters of his own to wear it.

Colleen moved to the window when she heard the church bells.

"They're ready for us." She looked at her younger sister. "Katie? You ready?"

"I'm ready," she whispered. Katie turned to her mother. "Ma, in case you're wonderin', you and Pa raised me up just right. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Katie gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, and the three started toward the church.

* * *

The wedding march played, and Sully held onto his daughter's arm firmly but carefully. She was wearing the dress her mother wore nineteen years ago. She was beautiful, and she looked as if she were an angel floating down the aisle toward the altar and toward a nervous Tom Reynolds.

Sully kept his eyes on Michaela, and he watched as her tears began to fall. He took a shaky breath, trying to hold in his emotion, but the tears began to fall silently. Katie glanced at her father as they neared the end of the walk.

"It's okay, Pa. You're not losing me," she whispered. "I'll always be your little girl." That was the last straw, and a small sob escaped the back of Sully's throat. When they made it to the altar, Sully kissed his daughter's cheek through the veil, and she raised her hand to wipe the tears from his cheek. Sully turned toward Tom.

"I trust you. You take care of my little girl."  
"I will, sir," Tom whispered, extending his hand to Sully. The crowd watched this exchange, and finally, Sully sat down in the pew beside Michaela, and they watched as Colleen stood as her baby sister's Matron of Honor. Sully and Michaela joined hands as the ceremony continued, and they gave one another reassuring squeezes not and then, letting one another know that everything was going to work out for the best. The day had to come eventually, and somehow, the past eighteen years had flown by quickly.

"Do you, Thomas Elias Reynolds, take Katherine to be your wife?" the Reverend asked. All words were blurred to the parents of the bride as he said 'I do." "And do you, Katherine Elizabeth Sully, take Thomas to be your husband?"

The rest of the ceremony went by quickly, and Katherine Sully was officially Katherine Reynolds. The reception was moved out to the meadow, where a dance floor had been constructed. Katie talked with her new husband as the rest of the crowed became seated. A few people went out to dance, but Sully noticed Katie lingering. Matthew lifted a glass.

"Let's have the couple dance their first dance as husband and wife!" he announced. Tom took Katie's hand and started to lead her out when the music began to play, but she pulled back.

"What's the matter?" She whispered into his ear, and he smiled and nodded. Sully watched as his youngest daughter moved toward the table. Michaela looked up.

"Katie?" Katie bent down behind her father and wrapped her arms around his neck. She rested her chin on his shoulder, and the crowd watched on.

"Poppy?" she asked for the first time in so many years. "I might be too big to stand on your feet, but I'd still like to dance. Will you dance with me?" Sully turned in his seat.

"But, you should be dancin' with your husband."

"He said he can wait. Besides, you're always supposed to get the first dance." Michaela let out a little sob as she heard her daughter's words, and Sully began to beam with pride. He stood, took his daughter's hand and led her to the dance floor. Everyone watched with tears in their eyes as father and daughter danced on Katie's wedding day. Soon, the crowed began to fill the floor, and the music played louder than before. Michaela watched from the side as her husband danced with their youngest daughter. Soon, she felt a tapping on her shoulder.

"May I have this dance?" She smiled at Johnny and nodded.

"Yes you may," she said with a grin. Her son led her out to the dance floor, and the family danced in celebration of a new chapter in young Katie's life. No longer would she be dependent of her family for everything. She had a husband and was going on to do things women wouldn't have been allowed to do fifty years before. Her future was so uncertain, however, and one thing was for sure. No matter what happened or how many years went by, Katie would always take the time to come back for a dance with her Poppy.

THE END


End file.
